I have been developing a couple of presentations and can't wait to share them! The first one is talking to parents about giftedness. Parents are often at a loss for how to help their gifted children grow. There are several resources out there but they may not be obvious. Teachers can guide parents to these resources as well as show their support. I love to share NAGC's toolbox "Resources for Parents" which has lots of useful information. Teachers, there's one for you too: "Resources for Educators".

I presented "Talking to Parents About Giftedness" earlier this month to our gifted endorsees (teachers learning to work with gifted students). It went well but needs a little more movement and/or interaction. Mostly it's a lot of information in a small amount of time.

My other presentation has been developed and will be given for the first time on Dec 8 for Griffin RESA. It's called "Developing Critical Thinking and Creativity through Team Building in the Classroom". I am super excited about this concept! You know how sometimes you do team building exercises with your group or staff? You are trying to build trust and support, and bring a team together for efficient work. Although it may feel a bit cheesy at times, this is actually quite valuable. Getting to know the people you work with and the strengths and weaknesses involved can help a lot. Plus the team develops critical thinking and creativity as they go through the process.

So why not build a team in the classroom? Students need to get to know each other and how to work collaboratively, just like adults. They should be learning critical thinking and creativity skills in class anyway, so why not in a fun way that builds a classroom community? Many teachers start the school year with a couple related activities, but it's important to incorporate team building (and critical thinking/creativity) all year. In my presentation I show the benefits of this and then some hands-on examples to take back to the classroom the next day (unless it will be the weekend ;)

I have put in proposals for both presentations to the Georgia Association for Gifted Children (GAGC) and for team building to develop STEM skills to West GA RESA conference. National Association for Gifted Children for both topics will be next. Lots to do!

By the way, if you are interested in having me work with your staff or group to build their team or to show them how to do this in the classroom, please let me know!

Welcome to my blog! This is where I will post interesting articles and links about differentiation, gifted education, and professional learning. I am excited to embark on this blogging journey and hope to keep it updated frequently. Please feel free to comment or contact me. :)